The number of Danes who fall below the OECD poverty line is increasing, particularly as you get closer to Copenhagen, according to conclusions in a report from the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (AE) which is due to be published today.

“Denmark is being polarised both economically and geographically. And that risks affecting social cohesion,” AE Chief Analyst Jonas Schytz Juul tells Berlingske0

The analysis looks at poverty figures up to 2010.

According to AE almost 250,000 Danes are under the OECD’s poverty line – which in Denmark is at a monthly income of DKK8,788 for a single person and DKK5,047 per person for a family with four children.

Councils such as Brøndby, Albertslund, Ishøj, Copenhagen and Høje-Taastrup are at the top of the list, according to Berlingske.

But poverty is not only prevalent in councils with many people at the lower end of the educational scale, but also in more affluent areas such as Frederiksberg.

“This is a worrying development,” says Aalborg University Poverty Researcher Morten Ejrnæs.

“Increasing unemployment and shorter unemployment benefit periods mean more people dropping out of the system. That means that poverty will affect more people,” Ejrnæs tells Berlingske.

Minister for Social Affairs Karen Hækkerup says that the government has already introduced projects to reduce the number of poor people in Denmark.

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